Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
A variety of grippers are available to facilitate the manipulation of a variety of objects or substances, e.g., mechanical components, electronic components, sheets or metal or other material, planks of wood or lumber, textiles, or other substances. Such grippers may be adapted to the material/object to be manipulated. For example, where the objects to be manipulated have smooth, non-permeable surfaces, a gripper may employ suction to manipulate the objects. Where the object is a manufactured object, the gripper may include elements configured to interface with a particular feature(s) of the manufactured object (e.g., a hard point, handle, or other feature formed to facilitate gripping).